But it’s the #SOTU. How cool is that? As an old poly sci major, there’s nothing like listening to a good political speech. Heck, sometimes even the bad ones are fun. And the 2014 State of the Union had the best of everything – all three branches of government in one place, cranky opposition, pundits, social media, Sarah Palin references, multiple GOP / Tea Party responses, and no out of control yelling from the audience.

The current White House has tapped into that idea and is hosting a Virtual Big Block of Cheese Day. Sweet. What sorts of questions would your kids ask? Who would they ask? How would they ask?

3. Have kids fact check both the SOTU and the different Republican responses. Discuss sources for this information – where can we find the facts? Are there citations available from the White House and the Republican party? FactCheck and PolitiFact are also good for that sort of thing. Have them compare two different news sites to see how the fact checking might be different – CNN (or here) and Fox News, for instance.

5. Use Wordle.net to help kids visualize themes in both the SOTU and the Republican response. Actually this year, three different Republican responses. Official. Tea Party. Tea Party / Libertarian / Running for President. How are they different? The same? Why are they different? Why the same?

PresidentBarack Obama‘s speech

RepresentativeCathy McMorris Rodgers with the official Republican response

RepresentativeMike Lee with the Tea Party response

SenatorRand Paul with the Tea Party / Libertarian / Running for President response

I used Wordle to compare this year’s SOTU to last year’s SOTU. We discuss similarities and differences in the two and brainstorm why some words are bigger/smaller as compared to last year. Students came up with some great reasons for differences between the two! I didn’t think to “Wordle” the Republican response for comparison. Thanks for the tip!
Jennifer

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Glenn Wiebe
social studies nerd, consultant, tech guy

Thanks for dropping by! As a curriculum consultant for ESSDACK, an educational service center in Hutchinson, Kansas, History Tech is my chance to rattle on about social studies and technology. Feel free to poke around.

Evidence Analysis Window Frames and Tools for Teaching & Learning

At ESSDACK, we want to offer tools and products that encourage you to learn and work when and where you want. Check out these handy products that can be used as instructional tools and professional learning opportunities in ways that work best for you.

My fav?

The very cool Evidence Analysis Window Frame that scaffolds historical thinking skills and helps kids make sense of primary sources.
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